The use of a piconet local network, such as a Bluetooth™ technology local network, associated with an access point to a network, whether fixed or mobile, is described in a number of prior art publications and has led to industrial implementation.
Access point products enabling access by electronic data processing terminals equipped with a Bluetooth™ interface to the high bit rate ADSL fixed network may be mentioned.
Systems for connecting a Bluetooth™ “piconet” local network to a mobile network via a mobile telephone may also be mentioned. A mobile telephone then serves as a gateway between the mobile network and the Bluetooth™ piconet local network.
The company IXI Mobile Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif. has more particularly developed a Personal Mobile Gateway (PMG) system enabling connection to a GSM/GPRS network of a plurality of electronic data processing terminals equipped with Bluetooth™ short-range communications interfaces. The architecture of that system is based on a small system (known as the PMG) which provides functions for connecting to the network via a GSM/GPRS radio module. That system is also equipped with a Bluetooth™ radio module. In addition to the functions mentioned above, the PMG also provides microrouter and microserver functions for GSM/GPRS radio connectivity and Bluetooth™ radio connectivity. In particular, the microserver provides functions for setting parameters of the piconetwork formed in this way by the various personal electronic data processing devices. These parameter setting functions concern in particular the devices that may be connected and the applications using the capacities of the system. The concept developed by IXI is therefore the opposite of the “all in one” terminal concept based on the possibility of a single terminal providing all the services that a mobile user requires.
There is also described in the prior art the implementation in a motor vehicle of a system offering services available via a UMTS mobile network. The bit rate available on the mobile connection is 128 kilobits per second (kbit/s) and the services that have been demonstrated include direct video, downloading of music tracks, videophony, and an offboard navigation system. The communications services offered may include those of the professional (business services), mobility, entertainment, and information fields. All of those services benefit from video support. In that experimental version, the vehicle is equipped with IBM-PC computers and display screens disposed in the seatbacks. Those devices are not interconnected by a short-range radio connection, for example of the Bluetooth™ type, but instead by a cable harness.
European Patent application EP-A2-1.209.928 discloses a system whose architecture is based on a server (preferably of the PC type). That server is installed in a vehicle, preferably a rail car, and is equipped with two types of radio interface, the first of which is preferably of the W-CDMA (UMTS) type, in order to access remote servers, while the second is a short-range radio interface (preferably of the Bluetooth™ type). The system is completed by a service controller server responsible for controlling access to the resources of the first server. The system described is for public use only and the terminals with access to the first server or to the remote servers, which are preferably mobile telephones, belong to members of the general public.
Consequently, the above system is not based on the use of multimedia services available to a personal network via a packet mode mobile network (such as a GPRS network); to the contrary, such access is made available to the “general public”. To this end, upon activation of each session, the terminal in use must in particular use an “access controller” system to carry out a security procedure including an identification step followed by an authentication step.
An analysis of the prior art indicates the following problems:                The association of a set of personal electronic data processing devices forming a personal network and a mode of access to a packet (GPRS) mobile network is described but there is no disclosure as to any form of use in the motor vehicle field. The access point to the mobile telephone network is itself a portable element and the prior art proposes that it be integrated into a mobile telephone.        The application to data services provided in a vehicle offers services accessed via the UMTS network. The terminals on which the services are available are integrated into the vehicle and the local network is a static network.        The interaction between means giving radio access to the mobile network and a wireless local network is already known in the art. However, there is no personal network concept in the prior art, since the local network is inherently open to the general public. It is therefore necessary to carry out the various procedures for accessing this local network, which then provides access to the W-CDMA mobile network.        